LARRY GRAYSON SIGNED PHOTO genuine 1990s autograph

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Larry Grayson A photo of the actor and TV presenter signed in his own hand in black ink. Genuine autogrpah obtained in response to a leter sent in the 1990s. Larry Grayson (31 August 1923 – 7 January 1995), born William Sulley White, [1 ] was an English stand-up comedian and television presenter of the 1970s and early 80s. He is best remembered for hosting the BBC 's popular series The Generation Game and for his high camp and English music hall humour Biography Grayson was born in Banbury , north Oxfordshire , in 1923 to unmarried parents (he never met his father). Ten days after he was born, he was adopted by Alice and Jim Hammond, a family in Nuneaton , Warwickshire . His adoptive mother died when he was six years old, and he was brought up by his eldest adoptive sister, Flo until his adoptive father remarried latterly. [2 ] When he was eight, he discovered that his Aunt Ethel was in fact his natural mother, though he always considered Flo as his mother. [citation needed ] He left school at the age of 14 and was soon working professionally under the name of Billy Breen as a supporting drag act on the comedy club circuit. Over the next thirty years, he toured the UK not only in male revues and drag shows, but also in variety shows . Grayson once toured with Harry Leslie and his Tomorrow Stars, hoping that his chance of fame would come too. He also added stand-up comedy to his act and appeared in London at the Metropolitan. Television career Grayson was one of the first television comedians to suggest an openly gay persona. He did not achieve stardom until he was in his fifties and had his own television show. An early TV appearance in the 1950s had led to many complaints about his act being too outrageous, and Grayson had resigned himself to a career off television. He was very popular in revue and working men's clubs with a unique and very gentle anecdotal style of comedy. It was usually based around his various "friends" such as Everard, Apricot Lil, Slack Alice, and the postman Pop-It-In Pete. A lot of this was observational. Grayson's family owned the only telephone in the street when he was a child, and he used to listen to his neighbours using the phone. Following a hit run of guest spots on ATV variety shows in the 1970s, he was rewarded by Lew Grade with his own award-winning show, Shut That Door! , in 1972. The Generation Game Grayson's popularity peaked when he moved over to the BBC to present The Generation Game in 1978. Attracting audiences of 24 million each week, the show became even more popular and ran until 1981. Grayson was aided and abetted by Isla St Clair , whom he always referred to as "my lovely Isla". Despite its popularity, The Generation Game was being beaten in the ratings by its ITV rival, Game for a Laugh , and the BBC took the decision to end the series in early 1982. Accepting this decision philosophically, Grayson went into semi-retirement, enjoying time on his own at his bungalow with his beloved dogs, although he did return to television to present the game show "Sweethearts" for ITV in 1987. He also made two memorable cameo appearances in the Midlands -based soap opera Crossroads , as a flouncing, difficult customer at the Crossroads Motel and as the chauffeur at the wedding of Meg Richardson (played by his close friend Noele Gordon ). Ironically, Grayson couldn't drive. Grayson moved with Flo (his adoptive older sister) to Torquay , Devon as part of his semi-retirement, but moved back to Nuneaton after just a couple of years. In 2009, Network DVD released a 3 disc set Shut That Door – Larry Grayson At ITV , which features material from his ITV days, including the one existing episode of his series Shut That Door and both series of The Larry Grayson Show . Memorial in Nuneaton It was said that he had been incensed at an objection by one councillor at a Nuneaton town council meeting to the idea of a monument for Grayson in the town. Apparently, the comments made were ... read more

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